The 2009 election and Bush

Like so many people, I have found myself caught up in the current high stakes election.  However, today an odd thought entered my head while I was pondering the past of our country.  An avid Democrat, I have been watching both parties attack the last eight years of the Bush presidency, and I found myself feeling kind of bad for Bush.

It occurred to me, that even though I am usually the first one to criticize Bush, and jumped at the chance to see Stone’s rendition of the presidency, W., on opening weekend, I was actually watching the campaign feeling a little bit of compassion.  Puzzled by the fact that I had any compassion for the man that I see as killing more people by fighting useless war after war, I stopped to think why.

Since the campaign between Obama and McCain has gotten intense in the last few months, the words about how neither are the Bush administration have been flying, and I sort of feel bad for the man who thought he was doing so much good.  Why do I feel bad for him?  Maybe because I finally saw something that is causing the entire country to hate Bush, the fact that we forget political figures are fallible and human.

Noticeably, policies aside, because that is a subject I could rant about forever, if you look at the public ratings Bush has watched rise and fall over the last few years, you will notice that Bush has been blamed more than ever when things are bad. 

Right now for most people life is not great, foreclosures and debt are rising, everywhere the economy is failing, and we are globally facing a recession.  Opportunity no matter where you live is quickly fading.  In short, everybody is feeling tense.  Although Bush has had a lot to do with it, I think many former supporters are just lashing out in anger.  I can honestly say I never was one of his supporters, but I know how it feels when you get betrayed, and for that I feel bad for Bush.

Because his policies were in line most of the time with what the Republicans wanted, and now since they want to win the election, they have made him the picture of failure.  Even the Democrats supported him at times, and I do feel it is unfair that one man has to take the entire blame for 8 years of bad politics. 

I think maybe the reason the general public hates W so much, and why he is going to go down horribly in history is not because of how he ran the government for the last 8 years, but because he represents and is the scapegoat for the shortcomings everybody feels in their hearts about their current state right now since life is not turning out the way baby boomers planned: broken, failed, and with no foreseeable future.  Just as Bush’s political career is failing, so are many lives right now, and for that we need someone to hate.